


Nightmares

by gurolapin



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Torture, Nightmares, Original Character Death(s), Past Abuse, Past Character Death, Short & Sweet, Trauma, mostly comfort tbh, rating this mature bc there’s like reference to torture and smutty stuff so yakno, slight mention of drugging tbh, strahd is only mentioned/in flashbacks hes not actually here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:09:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25604095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gurolapin/pseuds/gurolapin
Summary: Ana keeps dreaming about what Strahd did to her. Ez does her best to comfort her.
Kudos: 4





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> me: i should work on something  
> me @ myself: POST THAT LIL DRABBLE WITH EZ AND ANA THAT NO ONE WILL UNDERSTAND
> 
> so uhhh basically very self indulgent fluffy shit with ezmerelda d’avenir and my CoS baby anastasia !! very basic backstory she was a consort of strahd’s for a while before escaping and joining an adventuring party n later killing him. they go back to everyone else’s plane of existence, ana feels out of place n goes back to barovia, OOPS strahd’s back and angry. sequel campaign shenanigans allowed ez to rez her and this is basically some of the ,, remaining trauma/shock of torture/death/resurrection for ana
> 
> translations:  
> pisliskurja - bohemian romani, means darling

Pale, clawed hands gripped at the sheets below, sharp black nails straining against the almost torn fabric. 

_ ‘Hello, dear Ana _ ,’

His voice echoed through her mind, sending a sick feeling flowing through her recently resurrected veins. She could feel him all over- his tight grip on her throat as he lifted the much shorter, younger vampire off of her feet, his claws pricking the back and sides of her neck; throbbing pain where his foot had met her back, the force of his boot causing several of her bones to crack and break as he’d kicked her down the stone dungeons steps. Anastasia’s throat clenched, the memories of Strahd’s touches ghosting over her skin, leaving goosebumps and a horrible aching feeling.

_ ‘Always such a troublemaker, hm? _ ’

The memories came in bits and flashes, though all of it felt just as real and painful as it had in reality. Strahd standing above her, having reclaimed his cloak, seeming even larger and more menacing. The chilling look in his eyes, a mixture of not only disgust and anger, but disappointment, vengeance,  _ lust, possession- _

Ana began to hyperventilate as she writhed against the blankets, but they didn’t  _ feel _ like blankets, they were Strahd and his cloak and his arms and hands and-

‘ _ I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised, did you really think you could kill me? So foolish of you, Anastasia. Though, stealing my cloak as a trophy was quite cute. Afraid to miss me, hm? _ ’ His red eyes gazed down into hers, devouring her. She couldn’t look away from him. No matter how much she’d wanted to.  _ ‘Do not forget who made you, little one. Without me you’d be another lost little Vistana, playing with curses and doing card tricks. _ ’

Tears began forming in her eyes. Her teeth clenched, Ana shook her head, a desperate subconscious attempt to stop the memories from coming, to wake herself up and hide from Strahd in the waking world where she knew that he was dead again, at least for the time being.

‘ _ I could have made you my Queen, Ana. Unfortunate that you had to be such an insolent, ungrateful child. You would’ve had such a good life, if you’d just behaved. _ ’

Her blood was boiling and she wanted to vomit. She knew he had been lying to her, she knew exactly what ‘good life’ he referred to, one of submission and obedience and being used and in pain. The only true difference between the years of torture in the dungeons and Strahd’s supposed life for her would’ve been a lack of pride and perhaps being allowed to have her old room again. This was just a sick game for him.

_ ‘Regardless, you’re still mine, little Vistana. Whether you’re right in front of me or several planes away, if I let you live or if I impale you on a pike for the world to see, I own you. You’re nothing without me, you understand, da? _ ’ 

She remembered how Strahd had forced her to nod at that point, grabbing ahold of her neck till the woman managed to choke out that she understood, that he was right. Ana didn’t want to find out what would happen if he’d continued to press into her throat. To get around her immunity to being charmed, Strahd had fed her a potion that felt like a sedative mixed with an aphrodisiac, enough to make Ana’s brain fuzzy and body pliable, unable to resist aside from tired wiggling and weak hands clawing at his chest. It wasn’t necessary, he could have dealt with her fighting and probably still subdue her. The drugging was just an added layer to her torture, to make her feel even smaller and weaker against him. 

“Stop it, please  _ stop- _ ”

What happened next was always a coin flip. Whether he kept her pinned on her back by the throat, lean muscular body above her pale damaged form, or gripping her hips and shoving her face into the ground, or if he decided to make use of the dungeon’s shackles, stringing her up on the wall, one of two things was about to happen. Strahd would either use her body for his physical pleasure (reminding her of her ‘original purpose’, to be his consort, a lover, _‘potential_ _Queen’_ , he would tell her) until the woman would pass out and he became bored with her unresponsiveness; or he would cut and burn and scratch and whip and bite her, make her bleed and whimper and beg until once again, she would lose consciousness and him interest. 

Ana couldn’t tell if the act of torturing her itself was more appealing to him, or if it was how easily he was able to break her down, forcing her carnal reactions and tearful pleading. 

“St-op… Nnn, don’t,”

_ ‘Oh, Anastasia. It’s adorable how you beg, thinking you have a say in what I do to you, hm? _ ’

Ana’s chest tightened, her heavy breathing becoming raspier and more panicked. He had a point; he’d made her practically powerless against him.

‘ _ I shouldn’t have let you leave the first time,  _ **_pisliskurja_ ** _. Would’ve saved me so much trouble, I could’ve killed those adventuring friends of yours, I would’ve had Tatyana- but, I can wait. I have you to occupy myself, hm? You’ll make up for killing her, eventually. If not with your own life, perhaps Nikolai would like to pay a visit? Or maybe our child you’ve hidden from me, hm? I’m sure they’d love to see you here, like this. _ ’ 

“NO!” 

Anastasia woke with a scream, sitting up in the makeshift bed she’d been resting in. Her head felt groggy, a cold sticky sweat covering most of her body. Ana shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and rocking slightly and trying to ignore the hot tears burning down her cheeks. Panicked breaths racking through her body, Ana stared at the space in front of her, too scared to close her eyes for the fear that she’d see his face again.

“Ana?” Ezmerelda pushed aside the curtain separating the bedroom from the living area of the cabin they were staying in. She opened her mouth to speak again, but her gaze landed on the smaller woman crying in her bed and she stiffened. Ezmerelda’s quick movement to the bed was instinct at this point. 

She crawled onto the bed, untangling Anastasia from the blankets and allowing her some space. Ana shifted, lifting her head to look at Ezmerelda. Her pale face showed a mix of shame and fear, a need for comfort but wary of trusting anything. Ezmerelda sighed, wrapping her arms around Ana, pulling the vampire back down to the plush pillows and sheets below. Ana closed her bloodshot eyes, burying her face in Ezmerelda’s curly black hair, steadying her breathing before speaking. 

“I ca- hnnf, I keep seeing  _ him _ , Ez,” Ana mumbled. “Keep  _ hearing _ him, everything he said… I can’t get him out of my head, I can still feel him  _ touching _ me…” 

One arm wrapped around Ana’s waist, the other softly stroking her choppy hair, Ezmerelda nodded gently. Despite tending to be gods awful with finding the proper words to comfort someone, especially Anastasia, Ezmerelda did her best to calm the vampire. 

“He’s not here, Ana. He’s gone, okay?” Ez brushed Ana’s hair from her face, her dark brown eyes staring into Ana’s soft red ones.

Anastasia’s balled fist rubbed at her tears, sniffing softly. “I-I know but, what if he c-comes looking for me? What if he finds us, he already knew about Salem, if he finds you then wh-”

Ezmerelda silenced Ana with a quick kiss to the lips. “Of course he knows about Salem, honey. You’re smart enough to realize that. But he hasn’t found her yet, and he won’t. Just like he won’t find us, okay?” Ana nodded slightly, trying her best to smile. “I promise you, he’s not going to hurt you again, I won’t let him.”  _ I won’t let anyone hurt you, _ Ez added mentally. 

**Author's Note:**

> THANK U FOR READING i dont expect many people to read this but tbh if you did i love u. i plan on writing ana’s whole backstory at some point as a several chapter thing bc i love my vampire baby.......
> 
> i love ezmerelda so fucking much tbh. she’s my queen we stan


End file.
